Kipernicus
Model S Res#P1440
An invention that's been around for two decades, but is only now getting any real attention, could change the way millions of people drive -- if people ever have the good sense to adopt it, its inventor says. Japanese inventor Masuyuki Naruse claims that placing the braking and acceleration pedals in our cars side-by-side, just inches apart, is a dangerous design flaw. The solution: his Naruse pedal, a unified pedal design that puts accelerator and brake on the same foot-activated lever.
Naruse's pedal places the accelerator control on the side of a larger brake pedal where the foot can nudge it to the right to increase acceleration. Downward pressure on the pedal results in only one singular action: stopping. This, Naruse says, will prevent the many thousands of accidents each year caused by drivers stomping on the wrong pedal, accelerating into peril when they are trying to brake.
http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2010-08/single-pedal-braking-and-acceleration-could-prevent-accidents
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/business/global/04pedal.html?_r=0